Climate change secretary Ed Miliband insisted there had been a historic shift in efforts to tackle global warming, despite the disappointment of the Copenhagen Conference.

The Copenhagen Accord drafted by a core group of countries was not passed unanimously.

The treaty deemed climate change “one of the greatest challenges of our time” and called for action to be taken to keep global temperature rise to below 2°C. But it was not legally binding, sparking criticism from many NGOs.

Mr Miliband said the Accord had made “important steps forward” on fighting climate change.

The UN secretary-general, Ban Ki-moon urged all countries to formally sign the agreement to start tackling climate change and step up work toward a legally binding treaty this year.